


Lost Creatures and How to Tame Them

by Miss_Saffron (orphan_account)



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Romance, buckets of snark, harlequin with a supernatural twist, playing fast and lose with canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 17:19:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Miss_Saffron
Summary: “To recap, you brought here a muggle boy, who is Hope’s favorite barista. Troubled enough to connect with her, cute enough to earn a tour of the school and a starry sky to brighten the dungeon you’ve put him in. Next day the kid turns his conman on and takes off with one mystical knife, one stolen heart and all the memories he’ll ever need to blow our cover, if the fancy strikes him. And Hope flipped when she learned all that. I’m keeping it straight?”“I’ll give you it’s all my fault”, Alaric said, “but I've no idea how you managed to turn it all into a teen harlequin with a supernatural twist.”***“So, are the two of them…?”, Rafe asked “I mean, she looks too young to be Josie and Lizzie’s mom?”“Saltzman girls have a complex parentage”, Hope said, which didn't explain much. “And everyone knows the principal and ms. Murray are an item.”Rafe didn't look convinced.“You’ll stop doubting me, when you’ll learn to use your nose properly, wolf-pup. There’s nothing you’d confuse that smell with.”Rafe tried to figure out what she was talking about, then blanched when he did.“Werewolves can smell sex on people?!”"I'm not giving you a crash course on supernatural sex-ed."





	Lost Creatures and How to Tame Them

They were hardly inseparable, what with his job as the headmaster of the year-round boarding school and her need to occasionally go on a sabbatical and _unleash_ the part of her that had to be kept rigidly controlled around their students. But today was the first day in almost thirteen years since they’ve met, when he really needed her and she wasn’t there. It made Alaric somewhat angry, yet more so viscerally aware of how much she became a part of his life. Even when he swore to himself after Isobel, and Jenna, and Jo - and Caroline - that he wouldn’t allow anybody to get to him like that ever again. Even when he knew she made similar vows - if for different reasons.

Didn’t stop him from wishing her by his side right now.

Not that at this very moment he had time or inclination to wax philosophical on the nature of human attachments. He had to rein in his school and avert the disaster that was heading their way. Then he had to plan contingencies and failsafes so there would never be a repeat. And only then could he allow himself a minute to marinate in his hopeless longings.

He squared his shoulders and entered school’s auditorium, full to the brim with confused students. The news travelled fast in the crowd of teens proficient in use of super-hearing and Discord.

The teachers gathered as well, grim rather than nervous. There was no time for a separate faculty meeting earlier, but Alaric personally picked each and every one of them and was certain they grasped the consequences without him handling them a flowchart and a manual. The fact that a third of them were older than some of campus buildings probably helped.

Alaric reached the front of the auditorium and took a place besides Dorian, who called this assembly and wrangled everyone in their place while Alaric sorted through the facts to find their way out of this.

The moment the kids saw the headmaster, the murmurs died down. For once he didn’t need to ask for attention.

“For ten years we’ve gone undetected. Protecting you, protecting our secret has been our singular mission”, Alaric started without a preamble. They might be kids, but everyone from the first grade to the twelfth, from his daughters to his newest student, mr. Whaite, grasped what was the core thing at stake for all of them. “Tonight I need your help finding Landon Kirby, before he exposes us all”, he pressed, his gaze sweeping over rows of the kids he swore to protect. “If anyone has any knowledge of his whereabouts or any way of finding him, I need to know it now... “

“...Please, come forward without hesitation. You know that the only consequences awaiting any of you, regardless of circumstance, are the consequences of not finding this boy on time”, a clear, calm voice spoke up from Alaric’s right.

He turned the slightest bit and there she was, beside him. Something tense and coiled unraveled inside Alaric and he knew he wasn’t the only one affected thus. He almost felt a palpable wave of relief coming off of Lizzie and he saw some of the other students - particularly those more troubled than the Salvatore’s norm - regaining some composure.

“Those of you that have no pertinent information are dismissed to your rooms”, Alaric announced. “Those who do, please come directly to me. Any detail might be vital. And anyone who needs, as always, is free to seek assistance from ms. Murray or any of our staff. You’re free to go.”

Students surged from their seats. Most went straight for the doors, a few stirred towards their teachers. Alaric saw his daughters, the junior grade vampire Nick, and Tim, their youngest wolf, beelining for ms. Murray.

She caught Alaric’s eyes before he stepped aside to give the gathering group some privacy,  and he nodded curtly, once - that was all the conversation they needed to decide on time and place for regrouping later.  

Dorian was waiting for Alaric at the opening of the main aisle and Jeremy Gilbert was approaching from the back of the auditorium. He went to his two most trusted teachers, his mind already kicking in the high gear, devising and dismissing possible solutions to the current crisis.

“You’ve got anything for me?”, he asked.

Dorian shook his head, but before Jeremy had a chance to speak Alaric’s attention was diverted once again. Rafael Whaite was loitering by the main doors, doing the worst impression of detached disinterestment Alaric has ever seen - and he still saw Damon Salvatore’s teeth-achingly forced devil-may-care routine on a semi-regular basis.

“Dorian, assemble everything we’ve got on that dagger”, Alaric directed. “Jeremy, ask around the town for Landon - maybe some of the locals have information on him. He used to work in the Gril”

Both men nodded and peeled to the side, making an opening for Rafael to approach the headmaster. In three.., two..,

“Mr. Saltzman, I’ve said all I knew, really”, he blurted.

Alaric smiled reassuringly at the kid. “I don’t doubt that, Rafael. You came forward as soon as fist gossip spread. You’ve helped us considerably, by giving us your former foster home address and Landon’s usual hanging-out places.”

“But he wasn’t in any of them?”

“He wasn’t”, Alaric agreed. The kid was obviously distressed and Alaric believed some reassurance was in order. “I know you worry about your brother, it’s understandable. We’re doing everything we can to find him and bring him back.”

He did not promise to bring Landon back unharmed - Alaric had tumbled with the supernatural enough to know that was almost never the case. And he strived to never bullshit his students.

Rafael seemed to accept the pep talk but he did not went away.

“I worry for Landon”, he agreed and Alaric knew that wasn’t what the boy had meant to say. He waited patiently for him. “I also don’t want this place endangered because of him. He’s my brother but this is...”, he trailed off, lost.

“A chance to fit in?”, Alaric supplied.

Rafael nodded eagerly.

“It is for all of us”, Alaric agreed. “That’s why it was built and that’s why we will protect it.”

“Yeah, I know, mr. Saltzman. And I know Landon did something bad...”

And here it was, the fear that gnawed at Rafe. What to protect - the only family he knew all his life or the only family he could belong to for the rest of it? Truly, Alaric felt for the boy.

“We believe here in second chances, Rafael. I hope you believe in us. The rest will sort itself out.”

Shit, and he was doing so good with the no-bullshit rule. He was closing on a whole week.

But Rafael looked a bit less on edge and it was almost worth it. The boy left with the last of the students filtering out of the auditorium. Alaric glanced around and left as well - for his office, where Eva Murray was sure to wait for him.

She did.

First thing he saw after opening the door was her sitting smack in the middle of his desk. Copper curls spilling from the messy bun, arms crossed and eyes flashing hotly - not her usual collected self.

“Why haven’t you called me when shit hit the fan, Al?”, she demanded before he even had the chance to shut the door properly.

So, she was pissed. She only ever called him Al when she was ready to go for the jugular.

***

Usually, Eva loved the first day back in school after her sabbatical - not that she would have believed it, had someone told her that ten years ago. But back then she still lived half on the run, blowing through Mystic Falls from time to time like a gust of autumn wind and never staying for long. Now she was like a midnight tide - the rhythm of her arrivals and departures varied ever so slightly but reliable. For the most part. And soon, Eva thought, soon she’d be like the dusk and dawn, her journeys measured to the minute, all the routes she traveled leading back around here. To her place, her people, her h-.

It set her on edge.

The fact that Alaric Saltzman didn’t seem to notice any of that... That he apparently still treated her like a passing guest in his home - welcome to join, welcome to _help_ whenever she _happened_ to be near but not relied upon to come when there was a need… well, that pissed her off. He really should have known better by now.

At least he had good sense to look sheepish after she pointed that out. For the first half a second before he switched to annoyed instead.

“When you didn’t show up for Stefan’s memorial, I thought something important cropped up and I didn’t want to disturb you”, he shot back, circling around his desk in a few long strides and sitting himself in a chair he pushed back under the window. Eva shifted in her seat following his moves. “I’ve trusted you had your reasons.”

Ah, so he was pissed too, because he believed she bailed. She wasn’t sure if she should be happy he actually cared or livid because he apparently had no trust in her commitment.

Caroline would know, she was good with this relationship mess - as only a person who lived through every twist and turn of that dance _at least twice_ could be. But Caroline was currently on the other side of the continent, chasing some obscure hunch that was giving her heebee jeebees. And there was no relationship to speak of between Eva and Alaric. Just a tangled knot of complicated feelings. Without a backup from her best friend.

So, best to press advantage at the first opportunity? She’d have to tell him sooner or later anyway.

“Something did cropp up”, she admitted, sliding off his desk. “Actually, I was ready to come back last week, but I’ve felt this weird disturbance just outside the state line. I thought it would be prudent to check that out.”

“And you have the gall to call me out?”, Alaric threw at her, jumping up from his chair. “When you’ve been prancing merrily through the woods for a week and never thought to send me a word about _a weird disturbance_ practically at our doorstep?!”

So, possibly, she was a pot in this situation. Still, kettle was hardly a picture of innocence.

“ _Maybe_ I would be more _inclined_ to send you a pigeon with a _message_ about a vague doom _lurking_ in our backyard, _if_ you’d been less _paranoid_ recently”, she punctuated every inflection with a step. “Since Caroline-”

“A month of radio silence from Caroline has nothing to do with any of it!”, Alaric bellowed, proving beyond all doubt that it had everything to do with all of it. “If the threat you’ve kept from me has anything to do with the mess about this boy...”

“We don’t know if there even is any threat”, Eva stressed. “I’ve never got anything beyond that initial feeling. For all I know it could have been an indigestion - the gas station food is getting more awful by the year.”

“Don’t even try to play it down. You’ve always had a nose for trouble.”

“And you stop blowing it out of proportion - you’ve been the voice of reason every time something came up. That’s how you’ve got us through all of it.”

Alaric opened his mouth to argue some more, then shut it when Eva’s words penetrated the dense haze of worry and anger clouding his mind. Good, she had a point about him slipping up lately. And she would concede he had a point about her lone ranger routine. Grudgingly.

Alaric took a step back from her and she noticed his shoulders relaxing a fraction, his eyes losing the frantic gleem. Few feet of distance between them always improved her perceptiveness. When did they even get so close? One more round of shouting and they would have been breathing at each other’s mouths… and that was a line of thinking she wasn’t prepared to follow. Probably ever.

“Let’s table the blame game for a bit”, she switched the subject. “Can you tell me what exactly is going on at the school right now? Dorian was pretty vague in his voicemail - said some guy stole a knife from the library. There’s about fifty boys and twice that many blades in this school. I’d like some specifics.”

Alaric gave her the specifics - what precious little of them he had.

“So, to recap, you brought here a muggle boy, who coincidentally is Hope’s favorite barista. She found him troubled enough to connect with him and cute enough to give him a tour of the school and a starry sky to brighten the dungeon you’ve put him in. The next day the kid turned his conman on and you’ve sent him on his way with a contraband of one mystical knife, one stolen heart and all the memories he’ll ever need to blow our cover to kingdom come, if the fancy strikes him. And Hope flipped when she learned all that. I’m keeping it straight, yes?”

“I’ll give you that it’s all my fault”, Alaric said, “but I have no idea how you’ve managed to turn it all into a teen harlequin with a supernatural twist.”

Eva rolled her eyes. She might be clueless and inept when it came to sorting out her own heart’s desires, but she had no trouble mapping other people’s love lives in fine detail.

“Of course it’s a teen harlequin - two thirds of the drama always is when you’re keeping over 100 kids aged 12 through 18 under one roof. The supernatural twist makes for a good flavouring”, she pointed out sagely and Alaric suppressed a sigh, defeated with her logic. “This particular harlequin, however, stars Hope Mikaelson and that girl never does things half way.” It was a genetic load, Eva believed, from what little she knew about girl’s family. ”We should look out for her, befo-...”

The rest of her thought was drowned by the wave of nausea churning in her belly. She shuddered with it.

“What’s happening?” Alaric was by Eva’s side in a blink of an eye.

“The usual”, she squeezed through gritted teeth, then stomped the rising bile down until it was barely a whisper of uneasiness at the bottom of her stomach. She took a steadying breath and went for the doors. She could explain it on the go. “A young witch spurned by betrayed affections reaches for the forbidden knowledge of the dark arts...”

“Hope’s playing with black magic”, Alaric said, following her.

“Yes”, Eva confirmed. “Well, more like charcoal grey magic.”

“This school’s policy is not in favour of the potayto-potahto debate”, he reminded as they turned a corner.

“Then you have one teenage ass to ground, headmaster.”

“And you’ll have one ‘dangers of the dark magic’ speech to give to a very unreceptive student.”

“Remind me, why did I agree to take this job?”

“We’ve got excellent benefits and a generous 401k plan.”

***

Eva’s speech on the dangers of dark magic was a masterpiece honed in the fires of ten years of arguing the same few points with young witches, who thought they were too cool for boring school-approved spells and too smart to fall down the slippery slope. Eva was damn proud of it. The opening line by itself could strike fear of Mother Nature in the weaker hearts.

“I’m already an abomination by Nature’s standards. I doubt a bit of greyish magic performed for the right reasons would make my ledger any darker than it already has been at birth.”

Hope Mikaelson’s heart wasn’t weak by any measure. And the fact that the stunt she had pulled resulted in the best lead on Landon they’ve got so far was quite counterproductive to Eva’s main point. No matter, Eva prefered lasting improvements over quick fixes anyway.

“I get that, Hope. You know I do”, she tried a new approach.

Hope bristled and kept her eyes firmly on the side of the road the three of them were traveling in Alaric’s jeep. But that was the first of Eva’s words she didn’t deny vehemently, so Eva counted that as a win.

“So, you admit that black magic has its uses when all other approaches fail?” Hope said “I’ve gotten that spell from one of your books, after all.”

Trust Hope to go to the exactly the wrong conclusion. Sometimes Eva was sure the girl pulled half of this shit on purpose. Most of the time, however, she reminded Eva so much of her own teenage self that it hurt.

“I’m compelled to point out that you did not exhaust all the other solutions first - you jumped straight to my personal to-burn stash”, Eva said. “And you did that before I was on the school grounds, because otherwise I would have felt you breeching my wards. I’m guessing you went there immediately after your talk with the headmaster, yes? When the search was barely starting. Hardly meets the parameters of your excuse.”

“So what do you want from me, Eva?”

Ah, the magic words.

“I want your justification, Hope”, she said. “You are a smart kid. Wild but smart. You know - probably better than any of your classmates - what is the price of dark magic. And I don’t mean that bullshit about imbalance of Nature”, Eva stressed. “So why risk that, Hope? Why did you use that spell, when you didn’t have to?”

“I had to!”, Hope reached the end of her fuse. “I had to! Because I was stupid little girl and it’s all my fault.” She lost momentum halfway through her outburst and the last words were barely above the whisper.

“How so?”, Eva prodded her. The bile had to be drained first.

“Landon followed me into the church, because he knew me. Then, when he tried to slink away the first night I didn’t bust him to the headmaster, like I’ve should. Instead, I’ve fed him our secrets, I’ve shown him the dagger, I’ve-... I’ve made this mess, so I had to clean it up. That’s school rules.”

“True. Also a school rule - when the mess is bigger than you can manage on your own, seek help from adults. Please, remember it for the next time, Hope.”

Hope didn’t look convinced, so Eva turned to Alaric for some supportive input, but he was still pretending that keeping the car on the curvy road at night demanded all of his attention. And internally he was marinating in guilt, Eva knew. He put forward the idea that Hope’s feelings might have been misplaced and it set of that particular avalanche of faulty reasoning, which ended with Hope using dark magic. In Alaric’s mind that made him culpable for the entire mess as much as if he’d trust a Necronomicon at her.

Eva was trying to convince herself that bashing together skulls of those two hard-cases wasn’t the perfect solution. She didn’t know if she could withstand the temptation for much longer.

Thankfully, at that moment Alaric pulled the car to the wayside and parked before the roadblock. State police and local deputies both were loitering around a bus that had stopped in the middle of the road at an off angle.

When the three of them stepped of the car, sheriff Donovan met them at the yellow tape.

“Matt.”

“Alaric”, the men shook hands, then sheriff nodded politely to the rest of the party. “Ms. Murray, miss Mikaelson.”

Matt had always kept polite distance from the Salvatore’s crowd in public. It wouldn’t be good if townspeople got an idea he was playing favorites with the rich kids and their nannies. It would be even worse, if anyone sniffed out that sheriff Donovan was feeding outsiders privileged information on some of the cases handled by local law enforcement.

“Called in a favor with the buddy at State Patrol”, sheriff Donovan proceeded to do just that. “I asked them to lock down the scene till we get there.”

“What’s our cover?”, Alaric asked. Civilians usually weren’t welcome to waltz in on the crime scene that was still processed by the authorities. Even civilians, who gave anonymous tips to said authorities.

“You’re looking for a student that bolted from your school”, best to keep it simple was Matt’s motto. “You suspect he might have been a passenger and but cannot wait for the full autopsy of all 24 victims on the off chance he is wandering somewhere and you’re not looking. So you insisted on the on-scene identification. I’m a nice guy, who helps my favorite former teacher. I didn’t account for Hope.”

“Distraught girlfriend who is the last eyewitness”, Eva supplied. “Knows what our kid was wearing.”

Hope’s I’m-not-amused face was really amusing.

“And what’s the story here?”, Alaric pulled the conversation back on track.

“Local PD thinks it’s a chemical spill.”

“And your take, sheriff?”

Matt let his professional law enforcement mask slip a little as he said “I’ll let you guys figure out that part” and lifted up the tape for them.

He was clearly baffled and quite scared. And after all the shit Matt Donovan saw up to this point in Mystic Falls very little unsettled him anymore. This wasn’t a good sign, Alaric mussed as he slipped under. And judging from Eva’s somber expression she was of the similar opinion.

As their group neared the bus, Eva slowed down with every step. Something was definitely wrong here.

“Hope, please wait outside with Matt for now”, Alaric asked, immediately picking up on the vibe.

Hope clearly didn’t like that. Before she had a chance to argue, however, Eva added “I need to do the reading, Hope, and you know that an interference from the outside magic source would muck the imprint. You want that boy caught?”

Hope pressed her lips tightly, but nodded.

And then Alaric and Eva stepped into a hell zone. All the bodies in the bus were incinerated. Not just burned, but turned into ash.

Eva spread her arms slightly and started to murmur her spells. Alaric could almost feel the magic slithering out of her and spreading between the bus seats. The moment it reached the first dead body Eva shook violently and bolted outside.

Hope squeezed past Matt into the bus and stopped dead on the second step up. Alaric saw the precise moment when her despair turned into thirst for vengeance. He’d be getting on that in time, but first order of business was still finding out what happened there. He stepped outside the bus, taking Hope away with him.

Eva was on her hands and knees, dry-heaving on the gravel by the roadside, Matt at her side. Alaric crouched by her, one hand automatically supporting her trembling form, the other swiping the hair away from her face. Wasn’t the first time he held her when the magic put her through a wringer.

“You need anything, Buttercup?”, he asked gently.

She breathed for a while, leaning heavily on the arms, then creaked “Water’s nice.”

Alaric threw Hope the car keys. For once she followed his command before he voiced it.

“Keep an eye on her, ok?”, Alaric asked Matt.

“Sure”, the sheriff said, following Alaric’s kid.

After a few more breaths Eva collected herself, and kneeled, leaning on Alaric’s side. He dabbed away the sweat beading on her forehead with an edge of his sleeve.

“I screwed up, Al. Big time”, she said, distraught. “I should have called you a week ago, before the memorial.”

Cold dread touched the base of Alaric’s skull.

“What did you feel there, Eva?”

“I have no idea. But it’s the same thing I’ve felt before. Only then it was barely simmering and now it is a raging inferno. And my… magic is repulsed by it. That never happened before and it cannot be good.”

Unfortunately, Alaric had to agree.

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic was born out of my snarky fondness for the TVD, TO and - I must admit - a bit of the let down I've felt about the Legacies. Especially in the crazy, twisted love dodecahedron department. Or rather about the lack of viable candidates for the male anchors of that sweet, sweet mess.  
> Ok, Landon has this troubled but cute vibe, but honestly, the only male character I could develop a TV crush on (or rather re-heat an existing one) is Alaric Saltzman. And I get where all the Hope/Alaric shipis are sailing from - since they are paired up in every other scene of the show, her potential romantic options are bleak, his are non-existent. And the shipping is like 89% of fun in this franchise. Sadly, that particular offering is not my jam.  
> So I pondered, I looked deep inside myself and I decided what I'd like to see in Legacies - and won't get to, I have a feeling - is 'the next phase'. TVD were about hormonal teens/young adults; TO about adults that were psychologically flip-floping between the state of a responsible grown-ups and hormonal teens. Now I want to see what comes next.  
> See, I'm an old-timer here. I was the target audience of TVD, when the first seanon aired and I'm actually Elena Gilbert's age. I can get some amusement from teen drama, but I'm much more interested in peering into the lives of the characters closer to me - adults. I would also love to see some of the original cast in their new adult shoes - having jobs, raising families and kicking ass of crazy supernatural villains - but I know that scheduling conflicts and the wish of some actors to move on to the new projects wouldn't allow for much of this either.  
> Thankfully, the beauty of the fanfic is thus - when the canon won't give you the fix you need, you can cook it for yourself. And share with other fans of similar tastes.  
> And let's set one thing straight upfront. All the abovementioned things do not mean that I think my take on TL premise is in any way better than the show itself. Nope. It's just catering to different apetites.  
> So, here it is - my TVD/TO/TL mommy harlequin. You can expect gradual return of most of the main cast from the two previous shows, copious amounts of OCs in main and supporting roles (and plenty of OC-staffed romances), and rather loose relationship with the current TL canon. And no Alaric/Hope or any other underage action, because I'm so not on board of that ship.  
> But the school setting stays, because it has amusing nostalgia factor. Only now I'm in the mood for a piece focusing more on the sordid affairs of the faculty than on the drama between students - but there will be a fair share of both in this story.


End file.
